The cookie monster's favorite hotel brand, DoubleTree has just launched a new travel-themed social media site called "DTour." Why should you care? Because to promote it, they're giving away six all-inclusive trips around the globe. Yup, free!

The DTour site is like a digital scrapbook, allowing users to post their own stories, photos and videos onto an interactive Google map—thus sharing their travel tips for a particular destination, and possibly being inspired by the experiences of others.

To enter the contest, all you have to do is upload your video onto the map.

According to a promotional video posted on the site, DTour (which was developed in partnership with Google and lives on a YouTube channel) aims to "redefine the way you plan and share your travels" and offer "inspiration to help plan the trip you've always wanted to take."

Some of the travel tips are kinda useful, like a Seattle video showing a 2-acre mountain bike trail built under the I-5. Though others are a little more questionable: do we really need to be cruising the Chicago River with some schmoozy travel talk-show host? Or watching a rerun of a Lonely Planet video about music venues in Nashville? (We'll go ahead and answer that one for you: nope.)

What would you say to an all-expenses-paid 35-day sojourn in Helsinki? Well, we know what we'd say: kyllä! (that's 'yes' in Finnish, at least according to Google translator…)

This summer, the Hotel Finn is offering one intrepid, bilingual blogger the chance to stay at the hotel for free (fun!), sleep in a different room each night (not so fun), and write about his or her experiences.

According to the Daily Mail, hotel manager Tio Tikka came up with the idea as a way to promote the renovations that were just completed on the hotel's 35 guest rooms.

Evidently, he was onto something. So far, over 600 people have applied for the role of 'professional sleeper', though we hope they all managed to read the fine print before sending off their writing samples. As per the guidelines, the winning 'sleeper' needs to be fluent in Finnish and English (there go our chances), with some knowledge of Russian as well. On top of that, the blogger will be required to "share his thoughts, adventures, and experiences of living in summery Helsinki."

Just a little while ago, we went on a rant about hotel Facebook pages, and what the fuss is all about. Many of you piped up, with one commenter noting "the whole Facebook marketing angle is over-hyped."

Another pointed out that often times, the "social strategy is coming from a global [headquarters] that is unaware of local trends."

Which might actually be a clue as to why Hilton has managed to beat all the other brands at the Facebook game.

Just yesterday, Hilton announced they were the first ever hotel brand to reach one million "likes" on Facebook. For those of you who abstain from the Facebook (stay strong!), that statement probably reads like gibberish. But we're guessing the rest of you are just as curious as we are to find out exactly how Hilton managed to pull off such a feat.

OK, we'll start this rant by acknowledging that, in general, there are elements of social media that get on our nerves, so you'll have to excuse us if at times we seem a little biased. However, the topic we're covering today concerns a very particular kind of social media: hotel Facebook pages.

Pretty much every hotel opening these days has one, but what exactly do they accomplish? And does anybody care what they have to say?

A few recent examples come to mind: QT Gold Coast wondered what we thought of JLo's manicure at the Golden Globes. Over in New York, Hotel BPM felt like sharing how "hot" they think Rihanna looks in the current issue of Rolling Stone. And though it hasn't even opened yet, The Quin Hotel is "recommending" the Michael Kors Spring 2013 womenswear line.

Maybe we're just not hip to the groove, but can someone please explain how these status updates have anything to do with the hotels themselves?

Working in a hotel must be tough. Between the constant upkeep of rooms, the late hours, the cranky guests, we imagine most hotel staffers are always on the verge of snapping. Come to think of it, they probably could benefit from a little venting once in a while...

Well, that's exactly what happened in an online discussion threadasking hotel employees to share secrets they normally keep from guests. Started just yesterday, the thread has already accumulated over 5,000 responses, which are alternately helpful, hilarious, and gross—many of them relate specifically to misplaced bodily fluids (yuck).

If you're brave enough to read them, you might wind up with a whole new, slightly paranoid, outlook on life in a hotel room. Here are a few of our favorites...

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, so we'll just go ahead and assume that somehow Grand Hyatt, The Mercer and Peninsula New York have managed to find the silver lining in the torrent of media attention that has come each of their ways this week.

First up: The Mercer played a starring role in an absurd incident involving a red Ferrari 458 Spider, an NYPD officer's foot, and The Hills star Stephanie Pratt's boyfriend. And, as luck would have it, the whole thing was caught on film and posted to YouTube.

To recap, a cop was issuing the car a parking ticket when the driver, Julian Chabbott, stormed out of the hotel, got into the car, and started trying to drive away while the cop was standing there. In a matter of seconds, he'd been pulled out of the driver's seat, shoved against the side of the car and thrown to the ground because he allegedly ran over the cop's foot. Hooray for innocent passersby armed with smartphones!

A few years ago, we fully embraced using social media when staying at hotels. Finally, you could publicly tweet out a complaint (or a compliment) on Twitter and get some instant notice from the hotel, as opposed to calling down to the black hole that is sometimes known as the front desk.

You could also check-in to Foursquare and get a discount on your hotel stay or a drink at the hotel bar and by liking a hotel on Facebook you could see their latest promotions and participate in contests for a free stay.

But not long after, the fun wore off. The discounts and promos weren't worth the effort that it took to remember to check-in, Tweet or like a hotel every time we entered one. Yet Fairmont Hotels might just win us over on Social Media Day which is happening this June 30.

Eventually, it's going to get pretty boring writing (and reading!) about every single hotel that launches a partnership with LobbyFriend, the newest hotel social media and city guide app to set the hotel world on fire. But for now (we hope), the excitement is still there...

If for no other reason than that LobbyFriend is so darn secretive about which hotels they've partnered with!

The Lungarno Collection, a boutique family-owned consortium boasting four hotels in Florence, Italy, will be the first European hotel brand (and only the second worldwide, that we know of) to offer the technology. Giving guests that much more of an opportunity to practice their shaky Italian.

What is LobbyFriend, you ask? It's the newest travel app to hit the market that's designed to make you feel bad for not socializing enough when you stay at a hotel. OK, it's more than that. And for many people, meeting other guests is exactly what they prefer to be doing in a hotel. For others, not so much. But LobbyFriend isn't just a Facebook for hotel guests.

The new app, which is available on iPhone, Android and mobile web (BlackBerry is coming in June), is making its big launch this month at Tryp Times Square South, and has reportedly linked up with over 50 other hotels.

So, what does LobbyFriend actually do? And how can you use it? Read on to see our conversation with LobbyFriend co-founder, Jason Ayoub!

Don't worry, Four Seasons Toronto isn't being completely obliterated; it's just moving two blocks over to a new 55-story building on Yorkville Ave. The new location is scheduled to open this summer, but in the meantime, Four Seasons is hellbent on capturing a bit of the nostalgia now felt by guests who have stayed at the old property over the years.

In order to do this, the hotel has set up (what else?) an e-guestbook on Facebook. First, users must "like" Four Seasons Toronto's Facebook page, then, they're granted access to the Four Seasons Toronto Memory Book, a compendium of warm, fuzzy memories ranging from engagements to Bar Mitzvahs to the Toronto International Film Festival. Though our favorite had to be the person who fondly recalled "waiting for the elevator."

We always like it when new hotels start interacting with their guests way before their doors have even opened. And at Brooklyn's music-inspired Hotel BPM, which doesn't open until April, there has been quite a bit of community involvement going on, practically since day one. Like posting shots of the finished bathrooms on Instagram. Or asking Facebook and Twitter fans to give the hotel's 76 custom-made mattresses a snappy name.

Last week, the "What's That Bed Called?" contest yielded a winner: "The Sound Sleeper." Which kind of makes us think there should be some kind of speaker system installed directly into the mattress—wouldn't that be cool! But maybe not so practical...

Dropping off portfolios, sitting down to meetings, providing references—sooo old-fashioned. These days, all it takes to get your foot in the door is quick glance at your prospective employer's Facebook wall.

Yesterday afternoon, the Hotel Murano Tacomaposted that their lobby retail space is currently available for lease, and that interested parties should get in touch with the GM, Stan. Of course, a more traditional interviewing process would likely follow, but we're still fascinated by the way social media has managed to tap into every single aspect of hotel life. And why shouldn't it? If you want a late check-out, check in on Foursquare. If you've accidentally locked yourself in the hotel bathroom, tweet about it.

And if you feel like owning your own hotel gift shop, hie thee to Facebook!